Flush switch



W. vJ. NEWTON FLUSH SWITCH Sept. 20 1927. 1,642,743

Filed April 28, 1924 '2 Sheets-Shea?l 1 @H0111 ms Sept. 20, 1927. W. J'NEWTON FLUSH SWITCH Filed April 28, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedSept. 20, 1927.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J'. NEWTON, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HARVEY HUB-IBELL, INCORPORATED, 0F BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION 0F CON-NECTICUT.

FLUSH SWITCH.

Application led April 28, 1924. Serial No. 709,437.

This invention relates to electrical switches, and has for an object toprovide a `switch Construction which may be employed for a one-way,two-way, three-way or four-way switch.

It is also an'object of the invention to provide a construction 'whichby merely shifting contacts may be employed as any one of the abovementioned types of switches.

It is a further object of the invention to provide lan improvedoperating mechanism for the switch element.

With'the foregoing and otherobjccts in View, I have devised theconstruction illustrated in the accompanying drawings forniing a part`of this specication, these drawings being illustrative of the preferredconstruction for carrying out the invention. In these drawings, I n

F ig.`1 is a top plan view of my improved switchshown' as a one-wayswitch.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof substantially on line 2-2 ofFig. 1. u

Fig. 3 is a similar section substantially on line 3.-3 of- Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5' is a top planview of a switch according to my invention showinga four-way construction. v

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section thereof substantially on line 6-6 ofFig. 5 but on an enlarged scale.

Fig, 7 is a similar section substantially on line 7--7 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a transverse section substantially on line 8-8of Fig. 5. 0

Fig. 9 is a transverse section similar tc Fig. 8 but showing the methodof mounting a three-way jumper strap.

Fig. 10 is a wiring diagram showing the use of a one-way switch. v

Fig. 11 isa wiring diagram showing the use of a switch as a two-wayswitch.

Fig. 12 is a wiringdiagram showing the use of two switches arranged asthree-way switches, and Fig. 13 is a wiring diagram showing the use ofthree of these switches, two of them being arranged as three-wayswitches and the otheras a four-way switch.

This invention provides an improved construction for counting the highand low box contacts in a switch so that the same body 'I do not,however, wish to be limited to this specific construction of the bodymember as any of the usual forms may be employed, as for instance, wherethe body is made in two Sections secured together. The switch mechanismis secured to the bottom wall of the pocket by means of suitable screws17 threaded into the base 18 of the bracket 19, this bracket in thepresent case being substantially U-shaped with spaced kupright sidemembers 20; Mounted in these side niembers is a pivot pin 21 carrying asubstantiallyU-shaped support 22 for one or more switch members 23. Inthe present instance there is onlyone of the'semembers shown. It iscarried to swing with the support on the ivot pin, and is insulated fromthe support y suitable fibre washers 24. It will be noted from Fig. 4that the arms 25 extend outside the bracket while the connecting portion26 swings betweenthe shoulders 27 on the side members 20 which formstops to limit the swinging movement of the switch support.

Mounted between the arms 20 of the bracket and also carried by the pivotpin is a rocker 28. The lower portion 29 of this rocker extends to apoint adjacent the connecting portion 26 of the switch support. Carriedby the pin 21, in the present instance between the arms of the rocker,is a coil spring 30 having free ends 31 engaging opposite sides of theportions 26 and 29 of the switch support and the rocker. Means isprovided for swinging this rocker on its pivot. In the present instance,the rocker above the pivot is providedwith a member 32 having an opening33 in which projects the central tooth 34 of an oscillating lever ortoggle handle: 35 pivotall mounted in a casing 36 carried by the yo e 37to which the body member 15 is secured in the'usual manner, as by screws38. The whole mechanism is mounted in an outlet or wall box 39 ing meansis positively operatedv to release the switch support and allow it to beswung under the action ofthe spring. which has been tensioned tothusgive a snap action to theswitch member. For this purpose one of theside members 20 of the backet isengaged on the. edges thereof with guideribs 42 carried by a catch' 43 so that this catch' ma slide thereon, Atits lower end this sli e has a projection 44 adapted to engage oppositeaides of the connecting` portion 26 of the switch supportas shown inFigs. 2r and 3. The catch is also provided with a transverse slot 45kinto which a pin 46 carried by the rocker projects. It will be apparentthat as the slot is straight and the pin 46 swings on an arc about thecenter of oscillation of the rocker, the catch 43 will be reciprocatedup and down by the swinging movement of the rocker. Thus in operationswinging of. the lever 35 will swing` the rocker. If the free end of thelever is swung to the right, as shown in Fig. 3, the bottom portion 29of the rocker and also the pin 46 will be swung to the right. Theportion 29 of the rocker will swing the free end 31 of the yspring'whichis on the righthand of this portion away from the portion 26 of theswitch support and will thus tension the spring. As portion 26 of theswitch support engages the projection 44 of the. catch the switchelement will be held stationary until the pin 46 has moved toapproximately the other end of the slot 45, as shown in dotted linesFig. 3, when the slide. will be raised to move the projection 44 fromengagement with the switch support, and the `tensioned spring willswingthis support on its pivot and move the switch element to the dottedline posit-ion with a rapid snap action. The

switch will be swung back again by a reverse movement of the lever, thesupport :for the switch member being held against movement during thefirst part of the movement of the lever by engagement of the portion 26on` the other side of the projection 44. This construction gives aositive lock for the switch to hold it statlonary until the spring hasbeen properly tensioned and the operating lever has been moved topractically its extreme position, when the catchl is positively releasedand the switch allowed to operate under the action of the tensionedspring.

I have also provided an improved mountving for the stationary contactswhich are en- 'the upper shoulder katon'e end of the body member whilethe other` Contact 50 is carriedby the,I lower shoulder at the other endof the member. so'that both of these contacts are engaged by the switchmember whenit isin closed position, as shown in Fig.- 2'. The contactsmay 'be mounted on the shoulders byl any suitable means but that shown:is a' verywsimple one involving a single element, .which -notonlysecures the contacts in position on .the shoulders but may also lbeemployedto form an electrical connectionbetween them. This securingelement and connection comprises a screw 51 of suicient length to passfrom one shoulderto the other carrying high and low box contacts, andpreferably passes through an opening in the lower contact andv isthreaded into the upper contact, as shown in Fig. 2. The upper contactmay also carry the binding post screw 52 to which the leadwires L areconnected. It will be noted that in this construction there may .be astationary cont-act on the upper should-ers or the lower shoulders orboth as desired and that,- the securing screw 51 may provide anelectrical connection between them. As the switch shown in Figs. 1 to 4is a one-way switch only two stationary contacts are shown and the otherbinding post screw 52. is electrically connected with the low boxcontact 50 by screw 51.

Referring now to Figs. 5 to 13 I have shown how the same construct-ionmay be employed for either a two-way, three-way, or a four-way switch.In this construction an insulating bod member 53 is substantiallythe'salme as t e body member 15 except 'that as this member` may carryeight stationary contacts it is made of the same shape and arrangementon both sides while in Fig. 1. as there` is only one switch elementusedthe sides of the body are preferably inclined inwardly, as shown at 54,to reduce the space requir and also the amount of material, but I wishit to be distinctly understood that the construction shown in Figs. 5 to8 is ust as well adapted for a one-way switch as 1s the firstconstruct-ion. In the form shown in Figs. 6 to 8 the'switch operatingmechanism is the same as in the first form except that instead of usinga swinging lever projecting outwardly from the device, a pair loo aboutits pivot to operate the switch the same asin the first form.

In order, however, to make this device adapted for use as a one-way,two-way, three-way or four-way switch, the body 53 is provided with fourshoulders 57 adjacent thevtop ofthe pocket 58 inwhich the switchmechanism is mounted, and four shoulders 59 adjacent the bottom of this.pocket corresponding to the vupper and lower shoulders 47 and 48 ofFigs. 1 to 4. The upper Shoalders 57 are adapted to carry high boxcontacts 60. and the lower shoulders 59 `are adapted to carryflow boxcontactsy 61. As in the first form .there is a screw 51 extendingbetween the contacts carried by the corresponding upper and lowershoulders or that is, the corresponding high and low box contacts, andthese screws may not onlyv secure the contacts to thejshoulders but mayalso provide electrical connections between them as in the first form.Theupper or high box contacts 60 may carry the binding Ascrews 63 forconnection of the lead wires.

In the present case there are two screws 51 extending between each pair'of high and low' box -contacts as this gives a more rigid mounting forthe contacts.

In the showing ofv Figs. 5 to-8 there are four high box contacts andfour low box contacts with two switch elements all arranged to provide afour-way switch. Inthis ar@ rangement the left handhigh box contact, asshown in Figs. 5 to 7, are not electrically connected with vthe lowerbox contacts through the screws 51. the lower contacts being insulatedfrom the screws by the insulating bushing 64 and the insulating disc 65placed :under the .head of the screw. These high box contacts are,however, each electrically connected with. the diagonally opposite lowbox contact by Ithe jumper straps 66 shown more clearly in Fig. 8.

These straps are secured to the contacts by.

the screws 51 as they have flat portions 67 at their ends engaging thecontacts and through which the screws extend. The jumper straps areinsulated from each other by'suitable fibre washers 68 at the pointvwhere they cross, and they may be connected by a rivet 69 insulated'fromthe straps by a suitable fibre bushing. v

If it is desired to have a three-way switch instead of a four-wayswitch, a high box contact and a diagonally opposite low box contact ateach end of the body are omitted as indicated in Fig. 12. The solidcircles in this figure indicate low box contacts and the open circleshigh box contacts. In this arrangement one of thev high box contacts iselectrically connected with the diagonally opposite low box contact by asingle jumper strap 70, as shown in Fig. 9, this being called' athree-way jumper strap.

Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13 showthe usual installations for the fourdifferent types of switches, that is, one-way, two-way` three- Way andfour-way for which this device is adapted in the usual lighteningcircuits. A single lamp only is shown at 71 for illustration and asmentioned above the solid circles indicate low box contacts and the opencircles high box contacts. Fig. 10 indicates the ordinary one-way switchcontrol and Fig. 11

the ordinary two-way control. In Fig. 12

thereare two three-way switches so connected that either one willcontrol the lamp 71.

This is the wiring'ordinarily used for controlling a lamp from twodifferent floors of a residence. Fig. 13 Ashows a wiring'diagram usingtwo-three-way switches and one four-way switch, and this shows thewiring for controlling the same lamp from threediflierentiloors. Withthis arrangement the lamp may be controlled from any floor regardless ofthe position of thev switch on the other fioors. If there are more thanthree .fioors it is merely necessary to add an addi-v tional four-wayswitch for each additional flor. -In Figs. 10 to 13 the two positions ofthe'switch elements are shownl by the d'otted and heavy lines.`

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that by the peculiararrangement of the shoulders 47, 48, 57 and 59, the same construction ofdevice may be employed for any one of the fourtypes of switchesmentioned by merely arranging the high and low box-contacts as requiredfor each type and omitting them where -they are not necessary.

Thisgreatly simplifies manufacture as separate molds are not requiredfor each type, but all the types may be assembled in a body member made'from' a single mold- In Fig. 3, member 72 is a ground connection fromthe Switch mechanism support to. screw 38 and thence to the wall box 39.

. Having thus setforth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a switch, aninsulating body member, a pivoted switch element, saidbody member being provided with spaced shoulders adapted to carrcontacts to be engaged bysaid element, an a securing element extendingbetween said shoulders, said securing' element b eingv adapted to,secure. a contact on either shoulder or both and to provide anelectrical connection between them.

2. In a switch, an insulating body member having a pocket, a pivotedswitch element ment of the free end of the switch element,

said shoulders being adapted to carry contacts for engagement with the-switch eleber,

' ating said switch element, said body member being'provided withVspaced shoulders to carry high and low box contacts tocoact with saidelement, and means extending between said shoulders to secure thecontacts I thereto.

4. In a switch, an insulating body7 member, amovable switch element,means for operating sa'id switch element, said bodymember being providedwith spaced shoulders carry high and low box contacts to coact withsaidelement and means extending betweensaid shoulders to secure thecontacts thereto, said means being also adapted to form an electricalconnection between the contacts secured thereby. v

5. In` a switch, an insulating'body mema-n oscillating switch member,said body member being provided with spaced shoulders for hi h and lowbox contacts to coact with the switch member, means extending between ashoulder for a high box contact and a shoulder for a low box contactadapted to secure the contacts to said shoulders, and one or more jumperstraps connecting certain of the contacts.

6. In aswitch, an insulating body member having a pockettherein, aplvoted switch member mounted in said pocket, means "to toV operate saidswitch member,'said body membe'r being provided with shoulders adjacentthe topV and bottom ofthe pocket adapted to carry contacts to engagesaid switch member, andmeans extending between said shoulders to securethe contacts-thereto.

7. In a switch, an insulating body member having a pocket therein, apivoted switch member mounted in said pocket, means for operating'saidmember, said body member being provided with a plurality of spacedshoulders adjacent the top of the pocket and a plurality of spacedshoulders adjacent the bottom of the,socket, said shoulders beingadapted to carry contacts to engage said switch member, and means forsecuring contact-s o n said shoulders.

8. In a switch, aninsulating body member having a pocket therein, apivoted switch member lmounted in said pocket, means for operating saidmember, said body member being provided with a plurality of spacedshoulders adjacent the top of the pocket and a plurality of spacedshoulders adjacent the bottom of the pocket, said shoulders beingadapted to carry high and low box contacts respectively to engage saidswitch member in different positions thereof, and means extendingbetween adjacent high and low con- (tacts to secure them to theirrespective shoulers.

Intestimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

WILLIAM J. NEWTON.

